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Good news friends! I (finally) got to meet with a respirologist yesterday, who said my lung function is almost back to normal!

You may recall that two months ago I found out one of my chemo drugs was poisoning my lungs. A side effect called Bleomycin lung toxicity. It’s pretty serious. It can cause permanent damage and even be fatal. At the time I did a pulmonary function test that I could barely get through thanks to my inability to take a proper breath without coughing. But the test I took last week showed my lung function has improved by 100% in some areas!

Clearly, I knew I was doing better just from how my lungs felt throughout the day. But I’m no doctor, so it was nice to have confirmation from one. My biggest fear was that I’d have lung damage that would prevent me from exercising in the future, but the respirologist said my lungs are in good enough shape to run now if I wanted to. My oncologist however won’t let me until I’m done chemo, which I guess makes sense. But I so badly just want to pick my feet up off the ground and move fast when I’m out on my walks every day. I’ve got a need to run run run.

I also got to watch the respirologist pull up my scans and x-rays from over the past 5.5 months which was both neat and surreal. No matter how many times I talk and think about a giant mass in my chest, it is still weird to see a picture of it clouding around my skeleton. Everyone is impressed by how fast it’s shrinking (thank goodness, because they were also horrified by how large it was). Fast to grow, fast to shrink maybe?

Here’s hoping it’s gone by the time I get my PET scan next month. I’m getting nervous I may need more chemo.

Blathering about my health aside, I have a decidedly unhealthy breakfast treat to share with you today.

Well, it depends on your version of unhealthy. Croissants? Okay, kind of unhealthy (read this post to find out why). Turning croissants into French toast? Okay, maybe still kind of unhealthy. But in order to “balance” things out, I cut them in half and soaked them in egg whites and cinnamon. Straight up protein to my butter and pastry. And treating yourself to something delicious? Healthy!

Add this to my ongoing list of “Will it French toast?” experiments. The result was FANTASTIC. So buttery. A great way to use up croissants that are going stale. I think this would be a fun treat to add to the Christmas breakfast lineup this year. I would recommend not over-soaking the croissants, as the dough can easily get mushy. And don’t cook them in a overly hot pan, as the outsides are more likely to brown.

With that, I am off. I’ve been a bit of a busy bee these past few days because I’ve been feeling so well. But today I’m laying low to recharge and save up some spoons. Have a good one!

Heeyyy, happy Friday! I just took a dose of my new steroids and am feeling extra bouncy!

You may want to read yesterday’s post to find out why I’m hyped up on the ‘roids and can’t catch my breath mid-sentence.

Anyways, I’m really just popping in to share with you one great way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers in case you’re still working your way through them.

Pancakes, obviously.

My little sister made German mashed potatoes with apple for our big dinner on Monday. I knew the leftovers would lend themselves nicely to something sweet, after scouring the internets for recipe inspiration, here’s what I came up with:

1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1 egg

2 tbsp flour

dash cinnamon

Mixed up and put on a medium-heat griddle. Definitely make sure that the griddle isn’t too hot, as the potatoes will burn quicker than regular pancakes. Leave them untouched, cooking for around 8 minutes each side.

Keep in mind these are NOT the fluffy flour-y pancakes you are used to. More crispy on the outside, soft and starchy on the inside. You know, like a potato pancake. I topped mine with leftover homemade cranberry sauce and syrup. The recipe made three large pancakes and I was bursting after two. So you should probably be nicer than me and share these.

I am off to go lift trucks and jump between tall buildings on my steroid high.

It’s one of the most important questions of the weekend: pancakes or french toast??

Well, why not both!

I started by making one large pancake using this stuff:

Pancakes from scratch are a cinch, but I had this on hand so why not. I dig it.

Once said pancake was done, I drenched it in egg whites. Again, one could also make a proper egg & milk wash. I used egg whites to get more protein because I actually eat these things! Plus, I never said french toasting was a classy affair.

Then it becomes a refried pancake. In the best way possible.

Served with fresh fruit, a dollop of peanut butter, and syrup. Proof that you can have your (pan)cake and eat it too.

I’m sorry, I hate puns.

The french toasted pancake was good, especially the eggy bits on the end. But it was a little too dense to bring out the french toast texture and flavour. I knew I could do better.

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Welcome!

My name is Susan, I'm a 20-something living in Atlantic Canada and this is my blog about... me. I used to blog about food and fitness, but that all changed in June 2011 when I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After six months of chemotherapy, I was declared cancer-free in January 2012. I now write about anything and everything as I stumble through my post-cancer world. I'm a trained journalist currently working as a writer/researcher. I also have a background in personal fitness training and nutrition. Welcome to my piece of the internet!
See my About page or Top Posts page for more.

Contact

E-mail me at: thegreatbalancingact@gmail.com

Due to my current illness, please be patient for responses to e-mails and comments. If anything is urgent, please let me know!